Abner cutler



(No Model.)

A. CUTLER.

DRAWER CLAMP.

Patented Aug. 21, 1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABNER CUTLER, OF BUFFALO, NEXY YORK, ASSIGNOR TO A. CUTLER 8r SON, OF SAME PLACE.

DRAWER-CLAMP.

SPEGIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 283,468, dated August 21, 1883.

A pplicatiou filed August 25, 1832. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

4 Be it known that I, Arman CUTLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Presses for Desk and other Drawers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters orfigures of ref erence marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention consists, broadly, of a press in which a desk or other drawer can be quickly and exactly adjusted as to size in the opera- .tion of putting the diflerent parts together.

The front and rear portions of the drawer are generally secured to the side portion by dovetail 3' oints; and the bottomis secured in grooves in the side portions. It has been the practice heretofore to put these parts together and adjust them as to size entirely by hand, and it requires considerable time and manipulation to do this in an accurate manner. I propose, by the aid of my improved press, to save onehalf, if not more, of the time heretofore consumed in adjusting the parts of the drawer, and to make any number of the drawers thus put together of exactly the same size, no perceptible variation being possible.

To these ends my invention consists more particularly of a bed in which the drawer to be adjusted rests, such bed having one permanent side wall and one permanent end wall. The other side wall of the press is detached from the bed and adapted to be adjusted thereon toward and from the drawer by any suitable means which will produce the pressure required. Gage-blocks of the exact width required in the drawer are used at each end of the press, one of such gage-blocks, resting against the permanent end wall of the bed, and the other gage-block forming the opposite end wall of the press, and adapted to receive an inward pressure by suitable means.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective I view of my improved press. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same mounted upon a'table. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a section of the press, iakcnin the line a", Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, a is the stand or table upon which the press rests.

b is the bottom plate of the bed.

I) is a longitudinal strengthening-rib, and If b are transverse strengthening-ribs, all cast integral with the plate Z).

b b are openings in the plate Z) for dimin ishing its weight.

c is the permanent side of the bed, and c c are strengthening-ribs.

d is the permanent end, andd"its strengtheniug-rib.

e is a vertical end lug, and c c are vertical sidelugs, projecting upward from the bottom plate, I). These {1 lugs have screw-threaded holes for the reception of the adiustingscrews, to be described hereinafter.

The parts thus far described are all preferablycast in one piece.

is the movable and adjustable side wall of the press, having the channel/"in its outer side;

f f are seats or bearings for the reception of the adjusting-screws g 9, having the handwheels gg. These screws pass through the lugs e c and into the bearings ff.

h is a gage-block, which rests against the permanent end (I, as shown. It will be observed that the end (2 is not so wide as the gage-block 71, so that differcntsized gages can be employed. h is another gage-block, of the same size as the block h, which is placed between the permanent side 0 and movable side 9 at the other end of the bed. This gage-block h serves, additionally, as an end wall, and is moved inwardly, as occasion requires, by the screw in, having the hand-wheel k. This screw k works in the screw-threaded lug e, and has a bearing, Z, upon the gageblock 71 against which it presses.

m are the sides, and m the bottom, of the drawer to be operated upon, as partially shown in Figs. 2 and a.

The operation of my press is as follows: The dovetails of the drawer having been partially put together and the bottom slid into the grooves in the side, the drawer is placed in the bed of the press against the permanent side 0 and the gage h, which has previously been placed in position. The gage h and the mov- 5 able side f are then, by means of the adjusting-screws, pressed tightly against the contiguous side and end of the drawer, the side f being moved up until it meets the ends of the gages h and h. These gages h and h are exactly the same width as is required in the drawers. It will thus be readily seen that any number of these drawers can be quickly adjusted to the same size without the necessity of subsequent planing and finishing.

The gages h and h are preferably made of hard well-seasoned wood.

I do not wish to confine myself to the form of adjusting devices herein shown, as it is apparent that the same result could be accomplished by means of cams or wedges in as effective a manner as with the screws and hand wheels here employed. I preferably employ these devices, as with them a quick and accurate adjustment can be made. My form of 2 5 press is adapted, without change in construc tion, fordrawers of different sizes. For i11- stance, if a smaller drawer than that shown in j the drawings is to be adjusted, it is only necessary to put a block in the bottom of the press which is of sufficient size to bring the center 0 of the drawer opposite the points where the pressure is applied.

I claim- A press for adjusting desk and other drawers to their proper size, consisting of the bed 5 I), having the lugs e and e e, the permanent side wall, 0, the permanent end wall, d, the movable side wall, f, the loose gage-blocks h and h, placed between the permanent and movable side walls, to limit the movement of 4c the movable side wall, and the adj usting-ser'ews g g and is, all combined and operating substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub- 45 I scribing witnesses. V

ABNER CUTLER. \Vitnesses:

J. D. J OCOY, KT. MILLER. 

